Of Room 101
by nothing-rhymes-with-ianto
Summary: "They've lied to you. About everything. Everything you know is a lie."


_Written for the "deprogramming" square of angst_bingo. The whole time I was writing this, all I could think about was the torture scene from George Orwell's 1984. So that's where the title came from._

* * *

"Everything they've told you is a lie."

"I don't believe you."

"It's true. They wanted you because you're a good doctor. So they manipulated evidence."

"You're lying."

"That's enough for today."

The cell is dark and uncomfortable. Owen can pace around it in twenty-two natural strides, which means it's _maybe_ eight feet by eight feet. He feels he's being generous. It's furnished with a toilet and a tiny, hard cot bed. They've taken Owen's shoes and belt and jacket, so he's shivering and cold in the tiny concrete room.

They snatched him off the road as he was staggering home from the bar. It was dark and cold, and he'd been just pissed enough not to notice the world around him. A van had pulled up beside him and he'd cursed at it and flipped it the V for spraying him with mud. Then the door had slid open, hands grabbed him, tossed him inside, and everything went black. When he woke up, he was in the cell.

He doesn't know why he's there. He hopes Jack and the others will find him.

"What do you want from me?"

"We want you to know that everything they've told you is a lie. They manipulated you. They used you."

Owen glares into the darkness beyond the tiny circle of light he's seated in. "No. They gave me a better job. I like it there."

"It's a façade."

"Really? How do you explain the aliens I've fought, then? The people I work with? The base I walk into every day?"

"The aliens are real. The base is real. The people are not. They've lied to you. They pretend to be people they are not. They pretend to care about you, to know you, to be people you like."

"Okay, I don't really _like_ any of them much."

"They've lied to you."

"Whatever."

They smack him around. He glares and growls and rolls his eyes. Punches and pain are something he's used to. His mum, his mum's boyfriends, the kids at school, his job. The pain and scars were how he knows this job is real.

"Everything they've said is a lie. They're pretending. They're hurting you by making you believe they've got good intentions."

"Listen, mister. I've worked there for three years. I'm pretty sure I know my own job by now. They're not lying."

"They lie." Hands haul him up, blindfold him, and he's walked until his eyes are uncovered and he's shoved in his tiny room.

He's alone in the cell for weeks. No one speaks to him or touches him. He doesn't seen anyone or hear a voice. Food comes through a small hole in the door and he returns it the same way. He begins to wonder whether it's all in his head. Was he just hallucinating Jack, the Hub, everything? Has he been stuck in this dark place all his life?

"Everything they've told you is a lie."

"I-I don't believe you." This time, it's more hesitant. What if it is? What then?

"Torchwood lied to you. They told you they could help you. They changed evidence in order to make sure you would join them."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your fiancée is not dead."

Owen's head jerks up so fast he feels his neck crack. "_What_?"

"Just as I said. Your fiancée is not dead. They manipulated evidence. They made sure there were aspects you could and could not see, CCTV that had been erased to make you look insane, chloroform to pull you under, a funeral, moving out. All of it was a lie."

"I want proof."

A cell phone rings. Hands place it on the table. "Answer it."

Owen picks up the phone with shaking hands, touches the screen and slides to answer. "Hello?"

"Owen? Sweetie?"

The voice is beautiful and familiar and golden like honey. It fills him with a light he hasn't felt since he joined Torchwood. "Katie? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me. You disappeared, sweetheart. What happened to you?"

"I thought you were dead," Owen breathes. "They told me you were dead. Told me you'd died in the theatre."

"Well, whoever they are, they were wrong. I woke up from surgery and I was fine but you weren't there. They said you'd quit. I looked for you. I couldn't find you."

Owen sighs. "I moved to Cardiff. Sorry."

"Why?"

"For a—Oh, never mind. No reason. Can I see you?"

"Of course! In a few weeks. I'm in America at the moment. Some of the girls from med school and I decided to take a vacation. But I'll see you soon."

"You-you too."

"I love you."

"I love you, too. So much."

There's a click on the other end of the line. The phone drops from Owen's numb fingers and he breathes quietly, staring out into the dark. Everything he's ever heard has been turned on its head. Katie is still alive and well and in America on vacation like nothing's gone wrong at all. Doctor Jim Garrett was killed in a car accident like everyone said. He's quiet and complacent as they guide him back to his cell.

In the depths of a building, a man places a pre-recorded tape back into its cases and puts it away.

They show him other ways that Torchwood deceived him, deceived them all. They show him videos, photos, phone conversations. He sees the organisation for the illusion it really is. They give him a softer bed. He knows things he'd never realized before. It's all clear now. Torchwood is a lie.

Owen is woken by yells and gunshots. He stays lying in his bed. They'll get him if they need to. Anything else is useless. The door opens and he sits up, ready to follow their directions. They opened his eyes. They'll take him to Katie.

The doorframe is filled with a large figure that Owen recognises from what are now his nightmares.

"Owen, come on. We've come to rescue you. It's okay. You're safe now. You can come home."

Owen spits on Jack's outstretched hand. "You lied to me, you _bastard_! You tricked me, you used me! Take me to Katie. She's alive. You know she's alive." Jack opens his mouth and Owen waves an angry hand. "Don't tell me she's not because I know she is! I talked to her on the phone. She is alive. Take me to her! I don't want anything to do with your lies. Take me to her or get out. You filthy, deceiving, hateful liar!"

Jack stands there, mouth agape, eyes wide. There is fear in his blue eyes. Owen knows it's because he has finally realized the truth.


End file.
